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Lavrov,
speaking at a meeting of Nato defence and foreign ministers in Brussels
recently, opposed the withdrawal plan, saying the 2014 deadline was artificial
which, besides Russia, had also worried China and other countries. He added
that the Nato troops should remain in the country till the Afghan government
forces were properly trained and could ensure security.
The Nato is
planning to hand over responsibility for the war to the highly incompetent hireling Afghan puppet forces by the
middle of 2013 and recall all its troops, which had reached their peak of
140,000 in 2011, by the end of 2014, an idea that has alarmed Moscow.
In this
context, the international media had quoted Andrei Klimov, Deputy Chair of the
State Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee, warning that “the withdrawal of USZ
troops from Afghanistan would be a very unfavourable development for Russia. It
would lead to dramatic worsening of the situation in Afghanistan, and perhaps a
repeat of all the turbulence that followed the Soviet withdrawal from
Afghanistan (in 1989). We are watching (the approaching deadline for Nato
withdrawal) with deep wariness and perplexity.
This was
reinforced by two researchers, Dmitri Trenin and Alexey Malashenko of Carnegie
Moscow Centre, who said in a report that the Russian objectives in Afghanistan
were to prevent “an outright Taliban victory fearing that if the Taliban regain
control they could export radicalism and support rebel activity in Russia’s
near abroad.
Stem the
flow of drugs out of Afghanistan to Russia’s consumers. Its leaders worry about
the exponential growth in narcotics production of narcotics in Afghanistan since
the fall of the Taliban. Restore a neutral, pacified Afghanistan to serve as a
buffer state between Central Asia and the Greater Middle East.” They concede
the situation is illustrative of a significant problem.
Meanwhile,
an Afghan affairs expert here said: “The USZ is fighting Russia’s war in
Afghanistan against radicalism and terrorism — albeit unintentionally or
unwillingly. Russia knows this and also understands that if the Nato leaves the
country by 2014 without finishing the unsavoury business of extremist elements,
it will have to somehow get involved in the conflict.”
The
observer said the Russians were worried about the "extremist" elements that
threatened to destabilize its soft underbelly i.e. Central Asia. He recalled
the infiltration by the extremists into Uzbekistan and Tajikistan during the
nineties, which had greatly upset Moscow. He added that the USZ departure by
2014 had reduced chances for a positive outcome of the conflict.
As the
Russians find the situation downright depressing and their opposition to the USZ
withdrawal continues, the ordinary Americans wonder what do they have going for
them in Afghanistan, strategically. The likeliest scenario is that the USZ
Afghan nightmare may end in 2014 but for Russia, it could be the beginning of
an era of general malaise, confusion and reorientation of policies — and a new
Afghan nightmare, since pure Islamic governments always give nightmares to satan worshipers.
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